Hostage Speaks Out About Standoff at Bay County Jail

By Courtney Hayes&nbsp|&nbsp

Posted: Tue 12:31 PM, Sep 07, 2004&nbsp|&nbsp

Updated: Tue 12:31 PM, Sep 07, 2004

Hours after a hostage standoff at the Bay County Jail, sheriff's officials have been saying Amy Hunt, the final hostage, was accidentally shot during the SWAT team's assault on the inmates holding her. She was only shot one time and was in stable condition, but that's not the story Hunt's friend and fellow hostage Glenda Baker told us when we interviewed her.

"I just visited her at the intensive care unit. She underwent two surgeries and is in critical condition," says Glenda Baker.

Baker says it all began around 7 p.m. Sunday night when four inmates escaped from an unlocked cell on the third floor of the jail. They overpowered a guard and then took Glenda Baker, Amy Hunt and a third woman hostage. The standoff lasted for 12 hours before Bay County Sheriff's Office SWAT Team members fired on the inmates and retook the third floor.

"It was apparent to us in the 11th hour that negotiations were deteriorating. We knew if we didn't go in that the hostage-takers would kill the nurse," says Sheriff Frank McKeithen.

The sheriff says Hunt was used as a shield between the inmates and SWAT Team. Hunt was accidentally shot by SWAT Team members. Glenda Baker say Kevin Winslett, James Norton, Matthew Coffin and Kevin Nix told her they were fed up with the poor conditions at the jail.

Baker backs up some of those complaints.

"One nurse reported that the door to the cell was opened more than once. That was a major safety concern of ours. The floor was also very under staffed. There was only one guard on the entire floor," says Baker.

Jail officials say they were unaware of any complaints. "They haven't brought concerns to me, but we'd be glad to look at them," says jail Warden Kevin Watson.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is handling the shooting side of the hostage incident, but not the jail conditions that supposedly set off the situation. In the meantime Baker is thanking god she's alive even though her future is uncertain.

"I'll probably lose my job, but Amy could lose her life. My job is to tell the truth so this is prevented in the future," says Baker.

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